Any Questions #211

WAMC's Ian Pickus and resident quizzer Mike Nothnagel swap seats for a quiz all about Baghdad by the Bay.

Last week's challengeStart with the phrase FIVE STARS. Change one letter to an O and you can spell a word that names things you might give five stars to. What are they?Answer: Change an O to and S and you can spell FAVORITES.

THIS WEEK'S CATEGORY: THE BAY AREAOn-air questions: On September 11, 1972, the BART – or Bay Area Rapid Transit — began service. The rail and subway system says it has 420,000 passengers every weekday with 44 stations across four counties and is the fifth-busiest train rapid transit system in the country, a list topped by New York City. To honor the BART, today’s quiz is all about the Bay Area.

1. "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." That’s a quote usually but incorrectly attributed to which American wit?2. The Summer of Love had just ended when 11 residents of 710 Ashbury St. in San Francisco were handcuffed and taken away by police in a drug bust on Oct. 2, 1967. Among the group arrested that day were two members of which band?3. One stop on the BART route that received international attention is Fruitvale Station, where a man named Oscar Grant was shot and killed by police on New Year’s Day 2009. The shooting was caught on cell phone video. The events of that day were memorialized in the 2013 film Fruitvale Station starring Michael B. Jordan as Grant. On which beloved HBO series did Jordan have a memorable run as Wallace? 4. Famously banned from its home club after signing a major label record deal in the 1990s, what Bay Area punk band returned to 924 Gilman Street in West Berkeley for a secret show in 2015 that included rarities like “Paper Lanterns” in addition to more well-known hits?5. San Francisco Giants great Willie Mays, who slugged 660 home runs, is the godfather of which other Giants great, who holds the all-time record with 762?

Extra credit1. Which now-shuttered stadium that hosted the Giants from 1960-1999 and the 49ers until 2013 was the site of the last full Beatles concert in 1996?2. Now California’s senior U.S. Senator, which Stanford graduate served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors before becoming mayor in 1978?

This week's challengeStart with the name GAVIN NEWSOM, current Lieutenant Gov. of California and former San Francisco mayor. Rearrange the letters and you can spell a two-word phrase that describes what many superheroes are known for doing. What’s the phrase?

ANSWERSOn-air questions1. Mark Twain (For what it’s worth, the average high temp in San Francisco in July is 66 degrees.)2. The Grateful Dead (both Bob Weir and Pigpen were arrested; the band’s 1970 bust in New Orleans became the inspiration for the song “Truckin.’”)3. The Wire4. Green Day (it had also appeared at another unannounced gig in 2001)5. Barry Bonds (Mays said Bonds, son of Bobby Bonds, used to hang out at his locker because he had “four or five cases of bubble gum.”)